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which continues to grow; is due to the unprecedented and selfless contributions
of the current owners of photo archives.

These people made their generous contributions
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if these Fallen Flag Railroads.

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history,thanks for taking
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the main page!

The Jay Street Connecting Railroad
and the Jay Street Terminal that it served was located on both sides of and
ran under the Manhattan Bridge and it's immediate vicinity. It was the smallest
of the Brooklyn Marine-Rail Terminals.

The Jay Street Connecting Railroad as
we know of it, was actually the consolidation of two separately incorporated
railroads: "The Jay Street Connecting Railroad" (incorporated October 9,
1909), and the "Jay Street Extension Railroad" (incorporated January
8, 1916) . The details of both can be viewed in the Public Service Commission
Abstract Report of 1917 at right.

Both of these railroads would be consolidated
and re-incorporated on April 3, 1916. Both of these railroads would be owned
by the parent corporation "The Jay Street Terminal".

The Jay Street Terminal and likewise
the railroad was owned by John Arbuckle (b. July 11, 1839 in Alleghany
City, PA - d. March 27, 1912) and William A. Jamison.

The history of the Arbuckle Brothers predates their relocation
to New York, but for reasons of clarity I have concentrated on their history
after their arrival in New York.

The Arbuckle Brothers: John & Charles [d.
1890]; first organized their company in New York City in 1871. Their
primary commodity was coffee, being imported by the Arbuckle Brothers for
their name brand: "Ariosa". This brand of coffee would become famous worldwide,
and very desired among the cowboys in the Western US.

The Arbuckle Bros. ran into some tribulations
when Henry Havemeyer (of Palmers Dock / East River Terminal / Brooklyn Eastern
District Terminal as well as Havemeyer & Elder Sugar Refining history)
began raising prices of refined sugar being purchased by the Arbuckle's.
One thing led to another including some bad blood, so the Arbuckle's built
their own sugar refinery in 1897. To build the refinery, they hired Joseph
Stillman (a former employee of the Havemeyer's) who at that time was the
leading expert in sugar refining. The refinery opened in 1899, much to the
chagrin of Henry Havemeyer.

To exact revenge, Havemeyer entered the
coffee business and for quite some time, there would be a price war on coffee
with both parties lowering prices to outsell the other brand. Each party
spent about 12,500,000 dollars fighting the other in legal fees and other
incidentals. Eventually both Arbuckle and Havemeyer would wind up selling
their coffee for less than cost.

In 1901, Arbuckle and Havemeyer had a
"sit down" and ended their feud and sugar and coffee prices went back up.
With that "competition" problem solved, Arbuckle entered the tugboat monopoly
on the Hudson River.

He thought that the going rate of $50
for a barge to be towed from New York City to Albany was too steep, so Arbuckle
entered the market. Within a short time the towing charges dropped to
$5!

In 1905, the Arbuckle firm introduced a new coffee brand named
"Yuban".

In 1909, John Arbuckle & William McCormick incorporate
the Jay Street Terminal in Brooklyn, NY to service their coffee refinery
and warehouses, as well as receive ship and receive the raw and finished
products.

The Jay Street Connecting Railroad / Jay Street Terminal, for
all intents did not have vast property holdings, as did Brooklyn Eastern
District Terminal, New York Dock or Bush Terminal; and the Jay Street Terminal
did not have a great many buildings to call their own (keeping in mind that
Arbuckles Coffee Warehouses were a separate entity).

Joe Roborecky submitted the following information located in
Google Book Search which was contained in the Federal Reporter, Volume
200, Circuit Courts of Appeals, District Courts and Commerce Court of the
United States, January - February 1913:

"...within the said lighterage limits is the Jay
Street terminal. This terminal is located at the foot of Bridge street, Brooklyn,
on the East River, having a water frontage of 1,200 feet and a depth of 600
feet. Its equipment consists of a large freighthouse, two Baldwin
locomotives, three tugboats, two steam lighters, eleven barges, nine carfloats.
The capacity of the yard is about 235 cars. The Jay Street terminal is a
union freight terminal for all said petitioners, and is designated as a regular
public freight terminal of petitioners in their tariffs filed with the Interstate
Commerce Commission. It is owed by a copartnership composed of William A.
Jamison and John Arbuckle, conducting such freight terminal as a separate
business under the name and style of "Jay Street Terminal," under certificate
filed with the clerk of New York county in accordance with the law of the
state of New York, and is operated as a freight station for petitioners under
and pursuant to several contracts between petitioners and the Jay Street
Terminal, which contracts are substantially identical in their terms and
provisions.

The initial property holdings consisted of land between Adams Street
through Hudson Avenue west of John Street and would consist of three piers,
a float bridge, enginehouse and team yard.

In 1911, the Jay Street
Terminal acquired additional property between Catherine
Ferry landing (now Main Street) and the Fulton Ferry landing (now
Cadman Plaza West) via purchase from the New York Dock Co.

It was proposed at that time, that the
Jay Street Terminal would expand and put in additional float bridges, new
piers, etc.

You can read the pertinent details of this acquisition in the October
14, 1911 article from The New York Times at left and right.

Most importantly, this acquisition procured for them several
warehouses, giving them some storage capability, however limited.

Joe Roborecky also
came across the following multi-page article in the Bulletin of the Merchants
Association of New York "Greater New York" dated April 6, 1914, where it
states the various terminals located in Brooklyn on that date:

The following is a summary and pier dimensions
as listed in "Ports of the United States, 1916", and gives us a better
understanding of the new dimensions of the Jay Street Terminal
properties:

"The Jay Street Terminal is the fourth of
the private terminals on the Brooklyn water front. This terminal is operated
by a partnership whose members are identified with the Arbuckle Bros. sugar
refinery and coffee mills. This terminal, which was opened to the public
in 1905, is located on the East River just north of the Brooklyn Bridge and
occupies an area of about 200,000 square feet.

The property of the Jay Street Terminal
includes six piers. Three of the piers, with a ground area of 66,788 square
feet and a shedded area 60,648 square feet, as well as several warehouses,
with a total floor area of 440,800 square feet, were acquired from the New
York Dock in 1911. Two of the piers are open, while one has a shed with an
area of about 7,000 square feet.

The Jay Street Terminal is equipped
with locomotives, lighters, and other equipment for the interchange of freight
with the trunkline railroads. It has a yard capacity of 250 cars and it's
equipment includes a gantry crane of 20 tons capacity for handling heavy
machinery and other bulk
freight."
.

.
.
After John Arbuckle passed away in 1912, his nephew William
A. Jamison took control of the Arbuckle Brothers properties, including the
Jay Street Terminal. The Arbuckle Brothers Company
would expand into several fields including groceries and sundries, as well
as the shipping and receiving of commodities through the Terminal.

In 1917, the Arbuckle Brothers would build
an eleven story coffee and sugar warehouse at Jay, Main & Plymouth Streets.
This building was constructed with nine railroad sidings inside on the ground
floor (similar in function to the Austin Nichols building, as constructed
by Havemeyer & Elder at the Brooklyn Eastern District
Terminal)..

In the 1924 Fairchild Aerial Survey Photo above,
located and submitted by Joe Roborecky; we can see several interesting details
of the yard facilities of the Jay Street Connecting Railroad / Jay Street
Terminal. Please keep in mind that in this photo, north
is right and east is down.

Starting towards the top of the photo and along the bulkhead,
we can see one of the freighthouses on the pier (perpendicular to the bulkhead)
marked for "Arbuckle Bros".

Between the southernmost diagonal piershed / pier and the
pier yard, we see seven covered barges moored in the slip. All appear to
have their doors closed, and all appear to have cupolas on the roofs. These
cupolas are most unique as most railroad covered barges had flat roofs.

In the next slip east (down) we see two steamers. These
two steamers are believed to be the Jay Street steam lighters "John Wise"
and the "Santos". Another covered barge, this one with its doors open,
is moored to the pier below the steamers, and between the steamers and the
covered barge, appears to be a short three track interchange carfloat. Blocking
this slip at the end of the pier is a loaded station carfloat.

The next pier north contains another railyard which is partially obscured
by the smokestacks. To the right of the topmost large smokestack (which appears
to be capped, as well as its northern sibling!) we can make out one
side of the float bridge which appears to be a pony plate girder.

In the railyard east of the piers, we can see two trucks next
to the group of five boxcars on the left and between those five boxcars and
the six boxcars on the right.

What are not seen, is any discernible locomotives.

The following table and information, was compiled by Michael
Smith of the Rail-Marine Information Group for Tom Flagg's article in Transfer
Issue #44 (January - December 2006). It reports the the annual freight cars
handled and persons employed at the Jay Street Terminal for the years listed.

year

...

cars

...

employees

1943

26,983

149

1944

27,923

159

1945

24,545

159

1946

23,218

159

1947

20,852

148

1948

17,050

94

1949

11,958

81

1950

13,493

86

1951

15,236

93

1952

14,493

92

1953

14,363

85

1956

18,445

26

1959

1,540

47

The Jay Street Terminal, on average, handled thirty three to
seventy five freight cars per day over the above listed time period. The
Wyer Report of 1944 states that the Jay Street Terminal handled 430,701 tons
of freight in 1942, or about 1,180 tons per day. That translates to an average
of 29½ forty ton boxcars handled per day (using a standard 40 foot
steel boxcar common to that period). But keep in mind open gondolas containing
oversize freight and hoppers of coal was also handled by the Jay Street
Terminal as well.

Approximately 10% of this traffic was Less Than Carload Lot (LCL)
freight, which confirms prior information that the Jay Street Terminal operation
was primarily full carload consignments for the industries served by the
railroad.

Unfortunately on August 5, 1958, with mounting
debt and dwindling income, the Jay Street Connecting RR was notified by the
trunk line railroads that no more credit would be extended to it. On or about
the same day, the Jay Street Connecting RR tug (John A. McCormick?) met with
an accident and ruled unfit by the Coast Guard, and thereby
would necessitate the rental of another tug, if operations were
to continue.

According to documents, the railroad was operating at a loss
for the previous five years, and due to the lack of operating funds (apparently
the the Jay Street Terminal had only $400 in liquid assets at this time),
it could not repair the McCormick or even rent another tug. Therefore, to
prevent an accumulation of freight cars; a decision was made to embargo
all freight, incoming and outgoing.

On August 6, the customers were notified of this embargo
which would become effective at midnight, August 8, 1958. At this same time,
the railroad notified its employees that their service would not be needed
after that date as well.

The customers of Jay Street Connecting RR took this embargo
to mean an actual abandonment (which was in fact what it really was),
and therefore filed the injunction. The railroad naturally filed an appeal,
citing its cash poor state, and of which it won that appeal.

As inferred however by the abandonment papers of 1958, the Jay
Street Connecting Railroad / Jay Street Terminal instead of storing freight
in warehouses or depots, delivered the cargo straight from carfloat to customer.
Therefore, according to this document there was no longer a "public" terminal
located at Jay Street Connecting Railroad / Jay Street Terminal and
freight was handled by the full carload only. You can view and read these
filings in the above Overview chapter.

So all things being said, the Jay Street Connecting Railroad
/ Jay Street Terminal had a small freight yard off its single float bridge
for assembling strings of cars for outbound car floating, but for the most
part in the later years; incoming cars were brought directly to
the customers structure located on spurs and sidings.

This limited method of delivery, and no longer having the capacity
for LCL (Less than Car Load) storage, was apparently one of the factors stacked
against the survival of the Jay Street Connecting Railroad / Jay Street Terminal.
In addition to that, there was no room for the Jay Street Terminal to expand
along the waterfront for it to even compete with the other independent
rail-marine contract terminals located in Brooklyn: Brooklyn Eastern District
Terminal, New York Dock or Bush Terminal.

Matter of fact, in one of several appeals filed on behalf of
the owners of the Jay Street Terminal, it was revealed that the Jay Street
Terminal yard property had already been sold to Consolidated Edison (a utility
company) for $1,300,000. The contract for this sale was dated July 29, 1958,
seven days before the the owners announced their intention to embargo.
Furthermore, the closing of title was contingent upon removal of the
float bridge.

The Jay Street Connecting Railroad and
the Jay Street Terminal would continue to operate until June 27, 1959; when
it was finally shut down by the owners. It would be the first of the independent
"contract" terminals in Brooklyn to close its doors.

Other than the obvious service the Jay Street Connecting provided
to the Arbuckle Sugar & Coffee refining establishments & businesses,
other firms that utilized rail sidings connected to the railroad were:

firm

commodity

location

dates of
service

Kirkman & Sons..

soap

Plymouth & Bridge
Streets..

< 1916 - 1944 >

Masury & Co.

paint works..

Plymouth Street

< 1916 >

E. W. Bliss

munitions

Plymouth & Adams Streets

< 1914 >

Robert Gair

cardboard & packaging

Plymouth, Main, Water Streets

1912 - 1919

Brillo

steel wool

Plymouth Street

< 1944 >

Pittsburgh Plate Glass

glass

Plymouth Street

< 1944 >

Newark Paper

paper

Plymouth & Adams Streets

< 1944 >

Empire Stores

storage & warehousing

Plymouth Street

< 1911 - 1950s

Phoenix Paper

paper

John & Bridge Streets

< 1912 >

Frost Brothers

coal

John Street between Bridge & Jay Streets

< 1912 >

Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co

grocers

Quaker Maid

Planters

nuts & chocolates

Sperry Gyroscope

navigation equipment & searchlights

.

A freight receipt in the Memorabilia Chapter below, shows eight
boxes of soap being shipped from Kirkman & Sons to the Taber farm in
Davenport Center, NY on April 3, 1944 via the Jay Street Terminal and the
New York Central Railroad.

Another of the businesses utilizing Jay Street Terminal was
E. W. Bliss; and they had a very unique place in the history of Jay
Street operations and is worth mentioning.

Eliphalet Williams Bliss (b. April 12, 1836 - d. July 21, 1903)
began his business interests in two fields: as a press & die
manufacturer, and a significant torpedo / munitions manufacturer doing
contract work for the United States Navy. The Bliss Company operated its
torpedo manufacturing at the Brooklyn plant at Bush Terminal from the late
1800's until at least 1925. In 1903, when Eliphalet passed away, the Bliss
Company consisted of a total of eighty-five blocks in Brooklyn, and employed
a total of 13,000 people, between the press & die, precision equipment,
foundry and the torpedo manufacturing divisions.
.

Eventually, a portion of the torpedo manufacturing facility
relocated
to 135 Plymouth Street, and the block being bordered by Adams, John,
Pearl & Plymouth Streets. This structure became the Chamber Paper
Fiber Building.

It was this location that the E. W. Bliss manufactured machinery
and ammunition. Considering the close proximity to populated
areas, there appeared to be some aforethought as to the possibility
of the ammunition exploding.

The building that housed the munitions, is actually a "building
within
a building". The interior building held the gunpowder, so that if it
exploded, it would not explode out onto the street and minimize
damage to surrounding structures.

The aerial image seen at right, shows the individual inner
"gunpowder"
structure and outer "assembly" structure.

I can only surmise this design was the predecessor to
"containment structures" of today.

This building and its rail siding can
be seen in the Army Corp
of Engineers Port Facilities Map in the "Trackage chapter below.

Torpedoes were manufactured at the Brooklyn plant, and then transported
via the Long Island Railroad to Sag Harbor for testing, where the Bliss Company
had a testing site for its torpedoes. Once there, the torpedoes were transferred
to Navy vessels that were awaiting supplies or possible return to the war
zone.

It is unconfirmed at this time, but highly likely; that the
torpedoes were loaded onto freight cars on the E. W. Bliss rail siding, and
those cars subsequently were loaded onto carfloats by the the Jay Street
Connecting Railroad (just across the street). The carfloats would be transported
to the Long Island Railroad float bridges in Long Island City.

We also know from builders records that E. W. Bliss purchased
a Whitcomb 45DE27A model locomotive, c/n 60111 in January 1942; and we know
that E. W. Bliss was equipped with a rail siding connecting to the Jay Street
Connecting Railroad. Therefore it is very likely, the torpedoes were shipped
by rail, originating at the Jay Street Terminal yard. What is not clear,
is whether this E. W. Bliss locomotive was used in Brooklyn, or at the facility
in Sag Harbor.

The E. W. Bliss foundry was located on Water Street. Before
his death, E. W. Bliss was also vice-president of the Brooklyn Heights Railroad.

The following image, taken by the author from onboard the Lehigh
Valley tugboat "Cornell", shows the E. W. Bliss structure in July 2008:

E. W. Bliss structure - July 12, 2008 - Brooklyn, NY
(The roll up gate seen between the streetlights and Manhattan Bridge tower
foundation
is the original track entrance.)photo by authoradded 30 May 2009

On December 22, 1910, the Public Service Commission issued
permission for the construction of the Jay Street Connecting
Railroad. December 22, 1910 edition of The New York Times carried the
following article:

.

.

The Jay Street Connecting would
come to have the majority of its trackage on city streets both between
the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges (now known as DUMBO - Down
Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) as well as north
of the Manhattan Bridge (Vinegar Hill).

The track layout of the Jay Street Connecting
can be viewed in the Army Corp of Engineers "Port Facilities" map
below. Most of track, with the exception of the yards, was single track
through city streets, with spurs into buildings and lofts.
At it's peak; the Jay Street Connecting had a capacity
of 120 cars* and a single float bridge at the foot of:

Bridge Street

* car capacities
are for a standard 40' boxcar.

The main railyard and facility was located
at between Jay & Gold Streets and between John Street and the East River
bulkhead. The open piers and float bridge were located at this yard and are
indicated by key numbers 293, 294, 295 and 296 in the Army Corp of Engineers
Port Facilities Map seen below.

The following image is from the collection of Tom Flagg. Click
on the image below for an enlargement suitable for in depth examination,
and a second copy containing notations. Please note: this is a large file
and requires some time to open, and use the back arrow on your browser to
return you here.

In the photo above, we see a slightly unusual track arrangement
leading into the Terminal Building. The two left most tracks ascend up a
small incline to service the second floor of this warehouse. As unusual as
this may be, Bush Terminal had a similar set up for one their buildings as
well!

Another unusual facet of the Jay Street Terminal operation,
is in both the 1924 Fairchild Aerial and the 1929 Underwood photos, Jay Street
had a habit of blocking their slips with carfloats. Note the carfloats moored
perpendicular to the end of pier 3 in both photos, which is essentially
entrapping the marine equipment within that slip.

In 1941, Arbuckle / Jamison sold off their Jay Street Terminal
(piers / warehouse) operation to Moses Spatt and Joseph Wohl, who operated
under the entity "Famous Realty". In 1945, Famous Realty would acquire all
of the stock of the Jay Street Connecting RR, as well as acquire the
lease rights to operate the Jay Street Connecting RR trackage from the private
owners of the sidings and spurs as well as the main line track from the City
of New York.

The following images, were contained in the 1944 "Wyer Report".
This report was commission by the heirs of the Arbuckle estate in an attempt
to raise interest for the prospective sale of the properties.

1944 - block 27 siding
On Plymouth Street looking west with Main Street intersection at the end
of second boxcar.
Note tower of Brooklyn Bridge in background."1944 Wyer Report"
courtesy T. Flaggadded 12 May 2009

1944 - float bridge and yard seen from top of building
19 or 20
Looking east."1944 Wyer Report"
courtesy T. Flaggadded 12 May
2009

.

The following image was purchased off eBay in 28 February 2010.
It is not dated (auction listing states circa 1920), nor is any photographer
or repository cited. So far it is the only image I have located showing the
New Dock Street Yard:

New Dock Street Yard - unknown date
from left to right: freight transfer platform, team tracks, 40 ton overhead
gantry and Pier 3 "Columbian Line".
A 10 Ton overhead gantry is hidden behind the Pier 3 structure.
The piles of sand at the upper left corner of photo is not believed to be
part of the Jay Street Terminal operation
and believed to be the firm of N. Ryan Company.authors
collectionadded 05 March 2010

.

.

The smaller or west railyard was located between New Dock Street
and Dock Street on the bulkhead. This yard housed the 40 Ton and 10 Ton capacity
overhead gantries for oversize loads as well as a freight platform, and is
denoted as key number 308 in the Army Corp of Engineers
Port Facilities Map seen immediately below.

Army Corp of Engineers Port Facilities Map - unknown edition.
.

The following track plan, which is from
the 1944 Wyer Report, is much more detailed, and contains many notations
pertaining to the occupants of the structures and businesses located along
the Jay Street Connecting Railroad trackage.

Please click on the image below to see
a large scale image. Use the back arrow on your browser to return you
here.

1944 Wyer Report Track Plancourtesy of T.
Flaggadded 12 May 2009

.

Ironically, most of Jay Street Connecting
Railroad's street trackage (girder rail) remains in place, still set
in the original sett pavers (Belgian Block), with the exception of the
floatbridge team tracks, main yard and engine house. A ConEd power plant
and electrical switching yard now occupies this site.

The capacities of Jay Street Terminal
in 1912 were located in the "Report of the Committee on Terminals and
Transportation of the New York State Food Investigating Commission" published
1913; are as follows. Please note this table differs from those of the Bush
Terminal and New York Dock, in the fact that the Jay Street Terminal did
not exist in 1903, therefore those entries are blank.

stations

|
|.

freight house
capacity

||.

delivery track
capacity

|
|.

storage track
capacity

1903

1913

|

1903

1913

|

1903

1913

|

1903

1913

Jay Street
Terminal..

Jay Street Terminal

|

...

39,000(sq.ft.)

|

...

...

|

...

2351

1=
Includes delivery track
capacity.

In 1920, trackage was laid along Plymouth
Street and fanned out to seven tracks to service the Arbuckle warehouses,
as well as many private customers. As previously stated, freight cars would
be brought directly off carfloats and would be spotted (placed) directly
at warehouse locations for loading and unloading. The mainstay of the freight
traffic would be Arbuckles Coffee, but this would be supplanted with other
car load freight to and from the area.

Trackage to this date, extended just east of Jay Street and
ran into the northwest corner of a building.

By 1929, trackage had been expanded
greatly, and the main track of the Jay Street Connecting still ran primarily
down Plymouth Street with turnouts for other streets and building accesses.

However, the end termini of the railroad
was now located at Dock Street on the west end and it's main yard between
Bridge and Duffield Streets on the bulkhead of the East River on the east
end. The tracks, which were primarily "girder rail", (identical to that type
of rail used in trolley track which are also set in pavement) were set in
cobblestone paved streets, of which many sidings branched off the "mainline"
which lead into lofts and warehouses. Many of these warehouses remain
today.

The 1944 Wyer Report states that the maximum length of
freight cars accepted by the Jay Street Connecting Railroad is 52 feet, however
freight cars consigned to or for the private siding must not exceed 42 feet
6 inches, due to the sharp radii of the private sidings. Furthermore, freight
cars with six axles (six wheels on each truck / three axle trucks) could
not be handled.

Upon the closure of Jay Street Terminal, the main railyard and
property was purchased by Consolidated Edison (a/k/a ConEd), the electric
utility company in the New York City area and is now a transformer "switching"
yard.

Early images through 1929 of the Jay Street Terminal, show a
pontoon supported wood Howe Truss float bridge in service.

Upon my receipt a few years ago of a 1958 photo of locomotive
#7511 (seen below in locomotive chapter), it clearly showed a pony plate
girder, so I naturally concluded this was a "simple" pony plate girder float
bridge and listed it as such on this page. Boy, was I wrong!

Upon reviewing Tom Flagg's article in Transfer #44 in May 2009;
I took note that the girders were of different heights in the 1944 Wyer Report
photo. At first, I thought, would the cash strapped Jay Street, retrofit
two steel plate girders in place of the outer wood trusses on the original
Howe Truss bridge? While I guess it could be done, Paul Strubeck, felt they
did not.

Recalling the #7511 image in my collection, I immediately "dug
it out" and grabbed a magnifying glass. Low & behold, in spite of the
image being a little blurry, there was clearly a steel truss down the center
of the bridge, which was slightly taller than the outer plate girders! Note
the height and thickness of this center girder (compared to the outer girders
below) in the bottom two images under the circa 1929 Howe Truss image.

This is my first encounter with this type of float bridge, and
it is without a doubt quite an unusual design when one is used to either
Howe Trusses, or "pure" steel Pony Truss or steel Pony Plate Girder float
bridges. This design is a kind of composite of both designs, and for the
duration and until this name is corrected, will be called such here.

.

Upon conferring with Joe Roborecky, he feels as I do; that the
Jay Street Terminal being such a small operation with limited financial assets,
took the cost effective option by retrofitting the original wood Howe Truss
float bridge with steel girders and trusses, and retaining the original deck
and substructure. Whether this is even feasible from an engineering /
construction stand point, I honestly do not know.

Logistically speaking, it would appear easier to just "swap
out" the float bridge than reconstruct the Howe Truss.

In any event, we can safely conclude that the Jay Street Terminal
Howe Truss float bridge was either replaced completely or modified to the
composite float bridge discuss above. The question remains on what date did
this occur?

One of these locomotives (#1) would be
sold to the New York Dock Railway in 1931, renumbered #41 and that is where
it would operate for several more years.

Locomotive #2 however, was not as fortunate
and would be stored in 1931 and eventually scrapped in 1939.

. The diesel
locomotives that replaced the steam locomotives of the Jay Street Connecting
Railroad operation, had to be the most unique of the Brooklyn contract terminals.

#3

Locomotive #3 was a center boxcab switcher,
and most peculiar. This unit looked more like a shack on a flat car (resembling
LIRR float reacher cars) than an actual locomotive.

This locomotive would be built for Jay
Street Connection (weight unknown) in September 1916 by General Electric,
but returned to GE in August 1918.

It would be rebuilt in October 1918 with
new traction motors and the weight increased to 50 tons.

In January 1919, it would be leased to
the US Army, then sold back to Jay Street Connecting in April 1919,
where is served for many years.

Allegedly around 1935, it would be
stripped of its cab and engine, and used as a "reacher car" for unloading
/ loading of carfloats. However, photographs below after 1935 and
as late as 1948, show this unit with cab. So at this time is believed that
the information is incorrect.

.

#4

A notable fact is that the Jay Street
Connecting purchased the first diesel-electric locomotive to be built and
sold commercially. This General Electric locomotive would become #4 and had
the appearance of a "boxy" steeple cab. Unfortunately, this unit did not
meet expectations, and was returned to General Electric within six months,
where it was to be used as a experimental unit in developing better control
and propulsion systems.

It was originally believed that this locomotive was a one of
a kind unit, but in referencing The Diesel Spotters Guide, Second Edition
(1973), by Jerry Pinkepank; reveals that there were actually three of this
type locomotive constructed:

"Experimental Diesels of 1918"

"General Electric produced the first known diesel
locomotives in the U.S.A. in 1918. Three machines were constructed, of which
one was an armored car for the Army, one was for an unknown industrial user
in Baltimore, and one for the Jay Street Connecting. From dates on the builders
photos it is believed the Jay Street unit was first of the three. As far
as is known, the units were not a commercial success and may have been returned
to GE for scrapping shortly after delivery. No positive data on disposition
of the units has been obtained however."

.

According to this same reference; the prime mover for this
locomotive was a 200 hp V8 engine designed by Hermann Lemp, Henri Chatain
and W. E. VerPlanck of General Electric. Two cylinders were cast "en bloc"
under each of the heads. It appears from a photo of the engine, each of these
two cylinders was also "siamesed", meaning that each of the two cylinders
shared a common cylinder wall between the cylinders, instead of a hollow
cooling passage common of most internal combustion or compression ignition
engines.

. In a strange twist of fate, another
of New York's offline terminals would be the first to employ the first
commercially successful diesel-electric locomotive: a 60 Ton Ingersoll
Rand boxcab which served at the Bronx Terminal of the Central Railroad of
New Jersey.

#5

Locomotive #5 was a typical end cab switcher,
with weight stated as 57 tons, and built by American Locomotive and General
Electric.

This locomotive was purchased used and it is an ex-military
unit (US Navy - Mare Island #5) and would serve its second owner well to
the end of operations.

According to Diesel Spotters Guide (Second Edition); this locomotive
was a direct successor to boxcab design #300 (below), using the same
machinery under hood (although cylinder size is now listed as
9½" bore x 10½" stroke).

A total of seven units of this design were constructed: with
two units going to the Lehigh Valley Railroad and five going to the US Navy.
Of special note, is that the Diesel Spotters Guide states:

"On the early units the cab end was regarded as
front"

This is unusual, as common operating practice on the railroad
throughout the U.S. had the locomotive cabs considered the back of the engine.

.

#300

Locomotive #300 was a boxcab switcher in the purest sense, and
would also serve the Jay Street operation until the end. It was a demonstrator
model, also built by American Locomotive.

This locomotive was constructed in May of 1931.

Specifications refer to this locomotive as a 60 ton 300
hp boxcab. This was the only locomotive of this model built, with the prime
mover being recorded as a MacIntosh & Seymour engine with a
9½" bore x 10" stroke. The majority of the cylinder design (with
a minor ½" variation), would be incorporated into ALCo's 244 and 251
series engines.

.

#7511

Locomotive #7511, was a Vulcan 60 Ton centercab switcher, similar
in appearance to a General Electric 44 ton unit.

This locomotive was another ex-military unit (US Army - Fort
Hancock, NJ)

Photographs taken in 1959 after Jay Street Terminal ceased
operations, show locomotives #5 and 300 enroute to, and at Patapsco Scrap
in Maryland; yet #7511 is nowhere to be seen. However a photo of #7511 below,
shows it in operation as late as July 1958.

It was learned that this locomotive would be sold to Houdaille
Construction Materials (chimney rock quarry) located in Martinsville, NJ.
It appears #7511 was scrapped on their property after several years
of use.

#300 - American Locomotive Company Builders Photo -
1931
(while originally an ALCo demonstrator unit,
this photo was believed to have been taken by ALCo when Jay Street purchased
the locomotive
and it was painted in Jay Street
livery)added 13 February 2009

Built as East Erie Commercial
(GE Co. Erie, PA) #1006, may have been built many months earlier than
recorded, no supporting documentation remains. Built with one GM16-C6 engine
and four 205D motors. Used as demonstator.

Shipped

10/1918

Jay Street Connecting #4

Returned

4/1919

Stored until 1922

Rebuild

1922

Repowered with a Sterling "Dolphin" six
cylinder gasoline engine and sent to East Erie Commercial RR in 9/1922 as
#2

The Jay Street Connecting would also operate
various steam powered lighters and tugboats for the movement of carfloats.
Of those tugboats, the "John A. McCormick" was one of the largest tugboats
to have seen service in New York Harbor.

notes:This vessel has a colorful
history.
It was originally built for sea going service out of Rockport, ME; for Rockland
- Rockport Lime Co.
This is where
the name Fred E. Richards is
noted [Johnsons Steam Vessels,
1920][Tugboat Enthusiasts Society - digital gazette - 1900]
During World War I it served it's country, and apparently was sent overseas
for port duty (location unknown).
[Steamboat Bill of Facts, 1940
/ Johnsons MVUS, QM Vessels USA] After the war, it then returned
to the US, and was sold on unknown date to Great Lakes Dredge &
Dock Co. and home ported in Chicago, IL; from about 1920 to 1930.
It was at this time of purchase that the vessel is believed to have been
renamed John A. McCormick, who was chairman of the board of Great Lakes Dredge
& Dock Co.

Circa 1930, the vessel was then sold to
Arbuckle Brothers for use at Jay Street Connecting Railroad. As it is
understood from Stojiny McCoy, great nephew to John A. McCormick, there is
no relation to William McCormick of Jay Stereet Terminal. Therefore it is
believed at this time that Jay Street merely kept the John A. McCormick
name that was issued by Great Lakes Dredge & Dock.

Sometime around 1958, this vessel was involved
in a collision in New York Harbor and was rendered out of service. The cost
of repairs exceeded the liquid assets of Jay Street Connecting, and another
tug boat would have had to be rented. Jay Street Connecting filed for
abandonment instead. (see 1958
abandonment filing above)

disposition:sold and repowered as diesel
(tugboat?), renamed East Coast. In service 1965
(Telescope, GLMI 1/1967
issue), According to research by P. F. Strubeck,
the East Coast was converted to a trawler in 1960 and off records
in 1972.

.

Carfloat

1930

New York Shipbuilding
Camden, NJ

388

keel laid
16 June 1930

launched
19 August 1930

delivered
24 August
1930

.
disposition:retired 1960

Tugboat
Footnotes:

The following specifications are taken from
Johnson's Steam Vessels, 1920

Albert Schmidt was my grandfather and night captain of the tug (William A.
Jamison). Before being scuttled in the early 1950's (she had no scrap value),
the William A. Jamison was the oldest operating tug in the New York City
harbor.

She had a wooden hull and had a coal fired steam engine. The engine was a
two stage (double expansion) reciprocating steam engine. When originally
built the tug had no electric power. Lights were either oil or alcohol fired.
I have one of the original alcohol burning binnacle lamps:

An electric generator was added at a later date. I recall my grandfather
proudly showing the generator to me when I was about 8 or 10 years of age.
The call sign on her steam whistle was two long blasts, two short blasts
and one long blast. I have no idea of the significance of this code.

Rudder control was via chains from the wheel in the wheelhouse to the rudder
stock. Interestingly and unusual was the fact that to turn the vessel to
port you tuned the wheel to starboard and visa versa. The engine order telegraph
consisted of a handle and cable mounted of the forward bulkhead in the
wheelhouse. Pulling the handle with the appropriate code (number of pulls)
would ring a bell in the engine room.

I don't know if this information is useful to your web but I thought you'd
find it interesting.